Thud!

First published on 27 September 2005 by Doubleday. It is the thirty-fourth Discworld novel and the seventh City Watch book.

The Battle of Koom Valley is legendary on the Discworld as the only battle where both sides ambushed each other simultaneously — the origin of the mutual hatred between dwarfs and trolls. Its anniversary is a flashpoint every year in Ankh-Morpork, and the novel's murder is designed to exploit this tension.

One of the most beloved moments in the Watch books: Vimes, regardless of what crisis is happening, reads 'Where's My Cow?' to his son Sam at six o'clock every evening. In Thud!, this commitment becomes a scene of extraordinary emotional power during the novel's most dangerous sequence.

Yes — Pratchett explicitly uses the dwarf-troll conflict as an analogy for religious and ethnic sectarianism, particularly the Northern Ireland Troubles. The ancient battle with disputed causes driving modern violence is the analogy's direct expression.